Jenksismyhero

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Feb 23, 2012 -> 02:44 PM) f***ing A. 8 AM flight to SoCal already cancelled. Luckily, rebooked on a 6:30 PM flight tomorrow night, but there goes the whole day out there. Yeah I've got an 8pm flight to denver tomorrow. Once we get in (at 10 something) we have a 2 hour drive to a cabin. I'm REALLY hoping nothing gets delayed.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 23, 2012 -> 12:10 PM) Well, what is the counter-argument? Could something change between now and the playoffs? I suppose. But I feel confident when I say it's going to be Bulls/Heat in the conference finals, as nobody else is even worth talking about. You guys are getting on me for talking in "absolutes" or whatever. Instead of doing that, present why you believe the Bulls are in better shape to beat the Heat this year than they were last year. I've already explained why. They're just as good as last year, they've played equal to the Heat in their one meeting even with some adversity, and they still have Hamilton for the playoff run. I told you I don't have a problem if you think the Heat are better. I would agree with you. But it's debatable and it's certainly not a guarantee that they are or will be by the end of the year.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 23, 2012 -> 11:58 AM) Technically speaking, I never actually said the Bulls couldn't beat the Heat. Though that was implied. I have a very difficult time coming up with a scenario (outside of a Wade injury or something) in which the Bulls can beat them 4 times. Nobody else has come up with anything either outside of "wait until the Bulls are healthy." That might not come this year. Especially Hamilton. I'm assuming they'll be less off days for the post-season this year. Can his body hold up in the playoffs? The easy answer right now is no. The second part is your problem. The first part would have been acceptable.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 23, 2012 -> 11:25 AM) I threw this together for s***s and giggles. I'll probably use it. Thanks, i'll be using that.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 23, 2012 -> 11:20 AM) There is no debate. On offense, the Heat lead the league in PPG, FG%, 3PT%. On defense, they rank 5th in FG% and third in turnovers forced. They also lead the league in SRS (simple rating system), which measures point differential with strength of schedule. Stop with that regular season game. The Bulls were 3-0 against the Heat last year. You can play the injury card a little. I don't want to hear anything about rip. He's played in 67, 46, and 55 games the last three years. So him playing in, like, 10 games this year is no surprise at all. The Bulls are the same team they were last year. That's not a bad thing. It's just that the Heat are better and deeper than they were last year. Even the players acknowledge the January 2012 game wasn't just another game. You're ignoring the obvious. That was a statement game both teams wanted. It ended up being pretty much even despite the Bulls being on the road without Deng and a legit NBA back up point guard. Save me your useless statistics half way through a season where the schedule has been incredibly lopsided. The Bulls have played 20 road games, which is the most in the eastern conference. They're a half game behind the "undebatable best team in the league" despite the starting rotation expected to be in place by the playoffs having played a whopping 5 games together. I have no problem with you saying the Heat are the better team and here's why. But to say it's not up for debate is idiotic. Hell, I think the Thunder have pretty good argument for being the best too.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 23, 2012 -> 11:12 AM) But the time Rose was scoring was before they put LBJ on him. ESPN's shot chart of the game isn't loading for me, but I don't recall that being the case. Rose was still getting to the line a bunch in the 4th. In fact, I remember a pretty good crossover he got on Lebron in the 4th. He scored 38 for the game, I can't imagine all that came in 3 quarters.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Feb 23, 2012 -> 10:27 AM) Yeah, it's 5 games in a row where LBJ shuts down Rose and no one else steps up. I drunkenly waved the white flag after that first matchup this season, because it was a nightmare re-lived. We didn't have Deng though, and lost on the road, so who the f*** knows, I guess. The fan in me believes the Bulls can pull it off, but the realist doesn't really expect the Bulls to ever get to full health, while LeBron is a f***ing tank who cannot be injured. See but the difference this year was that Rose still scored in the 4th quarter. He actually brought them back into the game and could have easily won it with the FT's. And shoot, they STILL could have won it if not for the botched call at the end which gave the Heat an extra possession. And J4L, it wasn't some meaningless January game. It was playoff atmosphere. It was two teams that were hungry for a win for bragging rights to the rest of the league. I'd agree with you that it means nothing if it were any other team, but Miami is different. I think at worst they're evenly matched or Miami has a slight advantage. Either way, clearly it's dumb to say that there's "no debate."

It looks like he's farting out a stream of >>>>>>>

QUOTE (onedude @ Feb 23, 2012 -> 09:02 AM) I agree as well. I watched the first season of Breaking Bad around this time last year.....Could.not.stop.watching.that.show.until.I.caught.up.....b****!! Justified and Game of Thrones are a close second(tied) in my opinion. Followed by Homeland. I haven't caught any Boardwalk Empire...so I don't know where that would land. It's up there for me. It's basically The Sopranos, but better (except for maybe season 1)

Caught up with Alcatraz and The River last night. Not sure why I watch either, but the Bulls game wasn't very entertaining for me. Alcatraz is slowly starting to find its mojo. Last night's 2012 "case" seemed to take more of a backseat to the 63 portion and the extra stuff with the mysterious guy and the indian doctor (probably a bad sign that I don't know any of the characters names). My favorite was when the Warden popped into a scene out of no where on a chair. That would be a great .gif for someone to make. The River. Meh. Same as last week with a little more flashback. Still crazy legend X that only the mechanic's daughter knows about (and worries about), someone sacrifices themselves, and the problem is solved. It's getting a little tiresome.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 23, 2012 -> 07:45 AM) The Heat are the best team in the east. It's not really up for debate. But yes, Anthony sucks and I'd rather have Chalmers shoot 3's all day than have LeBron/Wade getting into the paint at will. The Bulls still lack a second consistent scoring/play-maker to compliment Rose and their highest paid player goes MIA far too often against good competition. The Thunder don't really lack anything. They give up more points than Miami and Chicago, but that has more to do with their uptempo style (the western conference in general plays faster) than them lacking the personnel to be a lock-down defensive unit. Come on. In a playoff game atmosphere, AT Miami, missing their best defender, the Bulls essentially were even with the Heat until the final minute. The Bulls are every bit as good as the Heat. It's not as clear cut as you, and others, want it to be.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 22, 2012 -> 04:48 PM) I am not opposed to your ideas here. But... first of all, they already do that for road projects. IDOT does only a small percentage of the actual construction work. Second, hundreds of millions? Really? You aren't cutting services, you are privatizing. Private firms still need to get paid, and probably want a little profit. That little profit is probably equal to the waste. I would rather they bring in a private firm to find the inefficiencies as they stand, issue a public report, and force Springfield to make those changes necessary to cut waste. You can probably save millions a year, but hundreds of millions? No way. Also, what do you want to do about snow and ice? They only send out trucks when the weather is bad or is going to get bad. Not sure what else you expect. I am sure there is some waste there, but some of it is necessary. They do that for SOME projects. Yes, they hire out, but even for random crews that are just filling potholes they use IDOT workers. And I wasn't suggesting hundreds of millions PER YEAR. I meant over time. Perhaps we could be saving a jail or medical center or two!

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Feb 22, 2012 -> 04:40 PM) USPS is also like half the cost to ship most of the time.... After you add in the yearly losses of billions though?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Feb 22, 2012 -> 04:20 PM) How does this save hundreds of millions, though? what impact have other infrastructure privatization models had on service, quality, availability and actual public costs? Common sense really. Think of every downstate project. You could hire local businesses instead of shipping in regional IDOT workers to do the work. But i'm also thinking you could easily set up a system like Medicare - hey construction/engineering/whatever company, you want a piece of this project? Here's the bottom line price we're paying. Bidding ensues and efficiency increases. Just this morning I was laughing about the waste of the Chicago Traffic Authority (beyond the typical waste of traffic controllers repeating what automated lights already do). I saw 8 trucks full of salt on one stretch of Clark Street (south of Congress). There was no snow. There was no ice. There was no cold weather that could potentially turn into ice. They were just out driving around. Waste. On my walk to work (I get dropped off down there and walk to my office in the southwest loop) I saw 4 IDOT trucks with guys sitting in them, just waiting. One guy was outside picking stuff up, the rest were drinking their dunkin donuts and reading the paper. Obviously that's probably not normal, but I do think efficiency would go up if companies were forced to submit itemized bills that have to be reviewed before they get paid versus IDOT just paying it out as the normal cost of business. See also: FedEx and UPS versus the USPS.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Feb 22, 2012 -> 04:01 PM) Abolish what department of transportation? Federal? State? And what you described creating IS the department of transportation. What makes you think we could save hundreds of millions that way, in either case? I mean, if we don't maintain the roads, then yeah, we save that money. And lose it elsewhere. Not sure about the IL gas tax usage, but it wouldn't surprise me if it went into the general fund. Sorry, the IL dept of transportation. And no, i'm describing a small department of coordinators, not a full on workforce in a variety of areas. I'd privatize everything, from toll booth collection to road work. I'm not saying make it a for-profit business model, i'm just saying get it out of the "public" hands where waste is rampant.

Not sure what I think of the tax, but I would absolutely abolish the department of transportation and most of the "chicago traffic authority." Create a small office for full, state-wide and state-to-state transit (i'd even possibly accept regional boards to coordinate services), but privatize the rest -- road building, repair, maintenance, etc. Think of the hundreds of millions we'd save. Also, I could be wrong, but isn't Illinois one of the states where the "gas tax" can be used for other things besides transit? Maybe I'm wrong and thinking of something different.

http://freebeacon.com/obama-super-pac-lean...hicago-machine/

you are correct. i think that's why they're doing this, so they don't have to double up on their 2 best shows.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Feb 21, 2012 -> 01:28 PM) Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson would be good if an average QB was throwing to them. If you always think that you can never draft talented players and always have to fix holes by signing big name free agents you are never going to win in the NFL. I agree as a long term plan. But the Bears are absolutely in win now mode. They can build toward the future (defense) late in the draft. But the immediate problems (someone to throw the ball to) need to be addressed if you want to take advantage of an aging defense and QB in his prime. And i'm not saying the Bears HAVE to give up a pick and get Wallace. Maybe they can get Vincent Jackson for a better deal. But they can't do what they've done the last few years - sign some guys, hope they pan out, and if not fall back to the s*** on the roster. That's not gonna work next year with both Green Bay and the Lions being more talented and deeper teams.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Feb 21, 2012 -> 01:12 PM) Those teams GB, NY, NE, NO are for the most part using WR's that werent drafted in the 1st round. After the combine there should be more clarity, but Id have no problem with the Bears taking a WR in rounds 2-4 instead of 1, it just depends on what is there. Yeah, well they also have some hall of fame caliber QB's that can make a good WR better.

QUOTE (gatnom @ Feb 21, 2012 -> 01:06 PM) They don't have to draft a WR in the first, and considering the state of the team, they really shouldn't. I believe I read that they held onto the guy who took care of the cap for Angelo. Are you on crack? WR is the #1 priority for this team. Look around the NFL, it's all about the pass game and putting up points. I really hope the Bears don't stick to this stupid defense- run the ball - control the clock crap. It's not going to win against the likes of GB, NO, NY, NE, etc. Edit: and the Lions even.

If it's a thin crust with just meat and cheese, cold all the way. If it's thick with peppers/onions/other vegetables, gotta have it warm (and not reheated).

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 21, 2012 -> 12:29 PM) Really? No one in the first round will be equal the talent of a guy who went in the 3rd round himself? Exaggerate much? Seriously...if Wallace was the only WR on the market, I'd say yes and spend the money + pick on him. He's probably not even going to be the best WR on the market, and the others won't be restricted. If it costs an extra $1-2 million to bring in one of the other guys, the draft pick is worth way more than that. What are the odds that (1) a difference maker falls to #19, (2) that said difference maker actually pans out (see also, Chicago Bears draft history, and (3) that even if they did pan out, you're not waiting 2-3 seasons for it to happen (i.e., cutting into prime Cutler/defense years). Yeah, you can say he was a 3rd round find, but that's a crapshoot and the bears haven't had much luck drafting random WR's throughout the draft. You also have to think too that the Bears are getting two 1st round "picks" in Williams and Carimi coming back.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 21, 2012 -> 10:49 AM) I wouldn't give up the first rounder and the money. Too many uses for both. You're not going to get a 1st rounder that would equal the talent of Wallace. If this last NFL season showed us anything, it's that a powerful offensive combination masks a lot of other deficiencies in your team. I'd do this in a heartbeat.

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Feb 21, 2012 -> 11:23 AM) I understand how it's supposed to be done. But I've also seen that it's possible for people that are supposed to know what they are doing to do it incorrectly. The other methods I described take that risk away. There were other things the trainers did that I didn't like as well. One of them was getting the dog to sit when you stop by literally stepping on their back foot. I always laugh at the 15 million ways to train a dog that are out there. Dogs are just like people - what works for one won't work for another. It depends on the breed, but can even depend on the temperament of the individual dog. Good dog ownership is to be knowledgeable about the various styles of training and to adapt to how your dog responds. And i'm convinced that some dogs will just never get "it" on certain things. I have an incredibly smart and obedient 6 year old boston terrier. She's very well behaved except for leading on the leash. It's been a fight since day one and she's never, ever gotten it. After 15-20 minutes of being walked she'll slow down and walk the right way, but right off the bat? No chance. Way too much excitement over it. I just learned to adapt by using a body harness on her instead of the neck collar.